Concordia Gets $5M Gift For Korean Language Village

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MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) — Concordia College in Moorhead has received a $5 million gift to help it add a culturally authentic Korean language village to its seven other language villages in the north woods of Minnesota.

Concordia says the gift from luxury handbag producer Simone Corporation and its CEO, Kenny Park, is the largest single donation ever in the 57-year history of Concordia Language Villages. Simone Corporation in based in Seoul, South Korea. Park says the U.S. accounts for 80 percent of his company's $1 billion in annual sales.

Concordia Language Villages attracts more than 10,000 youth and adults annually from across the U.S. for its language and cultural immersion programs. The Korean village will join seven other villages near Bemidji that represent cultures speaking Finnish, French, German, Russian, Norwegian, Spanish and Swedish.